An Enchanted Life: Chapter 01
by LaChasseresse
Summary: Nadja is a human recently turned gargoyle by some misplaced magick and is having some trouble adjusting to her newly enchanted life!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One  
Owen narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the statue placed delicately upon the parapet of Castle Wyvern's outer wall. It was beautiful, slender, graceful, clad in extravagant garments carved with the utmost detail. And the face…it was like that of an innocent child and an untouchable woman all at once. The blank eyes seemed to be just barely holding back weary tears, and the half-parted lips seemed to be forming a question, or a sigh perhaps. It was truly an exquisite piece.  
It should also not have been there.  
He reached into his jacket and pulled out the newest model of cellular phone that Xanatos Enterprises had produced. It was a prototype, the X-model, and taking time to get used to (especially the earpiece). But it also had more features than most cars, and a camera that outperformed professional photographers worldwide.  
He took a quick photograph of the statue and stowed the X-model back in his pocket, hastening to inform his employer of the intruder upon the premises.

David Xanatos was the most powerful man in the world. He was rich, influential, controversial, intelligent, and according to the magazine he had stowed away in a drawer of his desk, America's number one sexiest man alive. Fox had brought him the magazine with a derisive laugh and left as quickly as she'd appeared, letting him get over the worst of his smugness alone.  
And it was only a month later that he had finally gotten around to reading the article. Beyond his looks, the magazine called out his affiliation and support of the gargoyles in New York. He'd asked to meet with the author of the article and was not comforted to find that on the lapel of her suit jacket, she wore a Quarrymen pin proudly. Though he'd smirked and written her off, it was bothering him that the group of anti-gargoyle maniacs had infiltrated one of the most popular magazines in the country, thus positioning itself to print slanderous things about not only the gargoyles, but about he and his family.  
"Mister Xanatos," Owen's voice was polite, afraid of intrusion. "I believe I've found something you need to see."  
"What is it, Owen?"  
Owen took a breath and raised his eyebrows in a gesture that clearly said, "I'm going to be delicate about this but it won't change the news."  
"It would seem we have acquired a _new addition_ to the castle, sir," he said gingerly as he quickly paged through files on his X-model.  
"What sort of new addition?" Xanatos asked as his eyes narrowed.  
"The sort you'll probably want to greet as soon as she wakes up this evening, sir," Owen found the picture he sought and turned it toward Xanatos.  
"She?" he asked, leaning forward.  
"Indeed, sir," Owen said as he held out the phone, whose full-color Hi-Def screen displayed a beautiful likeness of the statuesque female gargoyle slumbering on her parapet. "_She._"

The sky was shot through with crimson and fire, with rivers of rose and heather bleeding through it. The fading sunlight cast dark shadows across Castle Wyvern and throwing the new female's face into sharp relief so that only her eyes and lips remained alight.  
"Have you given any consideration to what you will say to her when she awakes, Mister Xanatos?" Owen asked, eyes narrowing as he pushed his glasses up. Sunlight glinted off them like liquid gold.  
"I have." Xanatos said nothing more. He merely stood, hands clasped behind his back, eyes focused on the female.  
"Would you care to elaborate your answer, sir? Or shall I guess?" Owen asked, his voice dry and unperturbed, yet still communicating sarcastic amusement.  
"I considered restraining and interrogating her, but that seemed so…barbaric. I thought about having her moved to the other side of the castle so she could meet Goliath and his clan first thing, but I'm sure she decided to separate herself from them for a reason, and it seemed rude to disregard her wish for solitude."  
"You truly have put a remarkable amount of thought into this Mister Xanatos."  
"I do try, Owen. In the end I decided just to wing it. I've always been a charismatic man. _People_ didn't name me 'Sexiest Billionaire' for nothing, after all," Xanatos' mouth twisted into a wry smirk. The sun sank its final distance and threw the world into shadow. Xanatos stood straighter, eyes bright with excitement. "It's time."  
Owen took a breath, unaware that he'd been tensing, anxious for the newcomer to awake and face them. The world grew still in its darkness before the pollution from artificial lights of the city below, then came the faintest of sounds. A soft trickling, which grew louder, rising into a deafening crash, as the stone skin shattered. She spread her wings wide, and threw back her head as she took a deep breath. She stretched and a breeze stirred her hair, which was a snowy white, made all the crisper against the warm burnt orange of her skin. She turned, still wearing the same expression she'd slept with—quiet, pensive, almost contrite—and faced them.  
Right as her long, slender tail collided with Xanatos' forehead.  
"Ah! Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to! I just—!"she panicked, her voice airy, light. Frightened almost. However, in her panicking, she threw off her balance and slipped from the parapet, cutting off her apologies with a sharp gasp. Owen felt his stomach lurch, tightening as she tumbled over the back of the parapet, despite the massive wings she spread as she fell. As if by pure instinct, she pulled her wings in close, foregoing flight in favor of digging her claws into the stone, and gripping it with all her might. She made a pitiful face which communicated her terror and innocence all at once, and uttered an airy, "Help—me?"  
"Shall I help her, sir?" Owen asked of Xanatos.  
"It'd be cruel not to," Xanatos said, forgetting he'd been hit in the face and marveling at the newcomer's resemblance to a gecko as she clung to the parapet.  
Owen stepped forward and wrapped a hand around her wrist. "Here, I'll help you down. Just let go of the parapet." Slowly, bit by bit, he got her to relax her hand. He gripped her forearm and was surprised by the taut muscles hidden in the delicate frame of the limb. She slowly released her hands and gripped his upper arms as if fearing for her death. He gave a gentle tug to loosen her from the stone and she dug her back claws in deeper, wrapping her tail around the parapet and squeezing her eyes shut as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was shaking in his grip.  
"You really must let go, miss," he said flatly and pulled a little harder, wincing at the sound of her claws scraping across the stone.  
"D'you promise I won't fall?" she asked in a meek sob.  
He stared at her, contemplating the best way to get her to let go, before answering, "I promise I'll let go if _you_ don't."  
He almost felt her heart stop as her eyes snapped open. She released the parapet and threw her arms tight around his neck, yelling, "You _can't_ let go of me, I'll fall!" She continued to shake, but did not seem to realize she'd launched herself off of the parapet, and now stood on solid ground. Owen's mouth grew taut and uncomfortable, but still he wrapped his stone left hand around her back, pulling her farther from the edge. "Don't be ridiculous. You are not going to fall." If he hadn't known better, he might have thought the female blushed as her tears stopped. She stood a little straighter, and slowly her shaking subsided.  
"I've never known a gargoyle that was afraid of falling," Xanatos's voice woke her from the trance of relief she'd fallen into after Owen had saved her.  
She turned toward Xanatos and smiled innocently. "Who? Oh, me? I'm not a gargoyle!" Xanatos and Owen exchanged a look and looked back at her wings and tail.  
"No offense," Xanatos said, "But have you looked in a mirror lately?"  
She looked awkwardly embarrassed for a moment, before starting, "Let me back up. My name is Nadja. I'm human. Or at least, I was."  
"This should be interesting," Xanatos said under his breath.  
"It's true! I'm Nadja Jones. I'm an orphan, but I got adopted when I was twelve. I'm twenty-three and I live in a small town in the Midwest. A farm town. Our local football team is the Lions!"  
Xanatos shifted, leaning against a parapet. "Go on."  
"I'm really into history, and literature, and mythology," she explained. "And I love, love, _love_ old books! And weapons and stuff like that! Well, I went to the annual renaissance faire, because I always buy a knife each year, and there was a new shop run by three women I'd never seen before. They were gorgeous, but they kind of creeped me out, so I wasn't going to go in, but I saw an old book behind the counter and just couldn't _not_ ask about it. I went in and they told me it was for sale, and then told me a ridiculous price. I laughed and sort of started to leave and they asked how much I had. And they took it. A fraction of their asking price. I felt like it was a steal.  
"Well, it turns out this book was some kind of old spell book. It was all written in Latin, with some variations here and there, but from what I could understand it belonged to a sorcerer in the eighth century. It's called the 'Arcane Grimoire' if I translated it correctly."  
Un-translated, that would have been the _Grimorum Arcanorum_. Owen and Xanatos both stiffened in recognition of the title. Nadja did not notice.  
"Well, anyway. There was this spell in there to get in touch with your inner self, at least, that was how I read it. I got everything together, and on the full moon last week, I did everything I was supposed to. And I didn't feel at all in-touch with my inner self. In fact, if anything, all I felt was sleepy because the lavender had me relaxed and it was almost five in the morning by the time I was cleaned up.  
"I was on my way home—I went out to a nature park and hiked some back trails—when the sun started coming up. I started feeling sick, and cold, and turned around just in time to see the sun break over the horizon before everything went dark. I stood in the woods all day, a random statue of a human girl, and I woke up at eight thirty the next night. Like this."  
Xanatos stared in wonder. A human who'd been transformed into a gargoyle by the _Grimorum Arcanorum_ was something indeed.  
"Why come here?" he asked.  
"Well, as soon as I realized what I was, I freaked out. I mean, I don't exactly live in the hub of sophistication. The Quarymen have the locals pretty spooked about gargoyles, with only a few exceptions. My adoptive parents are a couple of those who are, how to put it? Less-than-welcoming of gargoyles. I stayed in the woods for a few hours until I got my head on straight, then I remembered an article I'd read in _People_. I initially bought it to look at summer dresses, but it had you in it, and it said you were pro-gargoyle. I thought if anyone could help me, it was you. I'm sorry…I know it's rude of me to assume you'd help but I just…I didn't have anywhere else to go."  
Xanatos took a breath and silently damned and thanked the writer of the article. He'd thought nothing good could come of being branded a "gargoyle lover," but it gave this girl somewhere to go, somewhere she wasn't in immediate danger. He at least had that to appreciate.  
"You'll have to excuse me, Miss—Jones was it? I've been without manners. I am David Xanatos. The man you're currently strangling is Owen Burnett." As if realizing she'd been clinging to Owen the entire time she'd been speaking, Nadja let go immediately and covered her mouth in embarrassment.  
"Oh! I am so sorry! I forgot I was holding onto you! Thank you so much for helping me, Mister Burnett!" she said, her face reddening as the men had not thought possible, given the color of her skin.  
"Not a problem, Miss Jones. Though I must admit my curiosity: if you cannot fly, how did you get here?" Owen asked as he straightened his tie.  
"Oh, well, to be honest, I hopped a couple of trains, and when I got into town, I used a bunch of alleys and fire escapes to go from building to building. It's a good thing this town is built so close together. I don't think anyone saw me. I knew I just had to find the tallest building in the city and I'd be in the right place."  
"How did you get up to that parapet?" Owen pressed.  
"Um…I sort of climbed up the building. Sorry about the holes in the side." Nadja hunched her shoulders.  
"You climbed up a building thousands of feet in the air and were scared of falling fifty feet onto the helipad?" Xanatos asked dubiously.  
"It's easy to climb if you don't look down. I put in earplugs and didn't look down. I left some pretty deep gouges though, if I thought I was going to fall. I got to this building at about nine last night. I got to that parapet just before sunrise. It took a very long time." She shuddered as if reliving the experience.  
"I'd say our first order of business is to teach Nadja how to fly, wouldn't you agree, Owen?" Xanatos said lightly.  
"Fly?" Nadja seemed to grow pale. "Me? In the air? Without a plane and in-flight movie and _seatbelt_?" She instinctively dug her claws into the stone wall.  
"I'll say one thing for her, Mister Xanatos," Owen laughed derisively. "I believe she's human."


	2. Chapter 2

An Enchanted Life  
Chapter Two

"I—I'm not so sure about this." Nadja was shaking again, her stomach felt as though it had lodged itself in her throat. "What if they find out I'm not really a gargoyle? Will they be angry?"

"No matter what, the gargoyles would sooner harm me than you, rest assured," Xanatos said. "Just stay in the doorway until I've had a chance to talk to them. _Goliath_!" He raised a hand and waved from the wall, and Nadja pressed herself even tighter against the stones in the tower, her heart racing in her ears.

There was a sound like rushing wind and then a light thud before a deep voice growled, "Xanatos. What do you want?"

"Why so rude? I thought we'd gotten past this _years_ ago, Goliath," Xanatos's voice was light, casual. "I have something I need to discuss with you. A favor, if you will."

"I will do you no favor that cannot be discussed in front of my clan, Xanatos," the gargoyle replied. "If you'll excuse me…" He turned, climbing atop the parapet and readying to take off into the air.

"Goliath, please listen to me," Xanatos's voice was calm, but held a not of urgency in it.

"Good night, Xanatos," the gargoyle dismissed him.

"_Wait_!" Nadja cried and stepped out of the shadows. The gargoyle momentarily lost balance, then shifted and leapt to the stones in front of her.

"Who are you?" Goliath asked, his voice full of wonder and awe, but with a noted trace of reservation.

"My favor," Xanatos said. "Goliath, this is Nadja. Nadja, this is Goliath."

"Who is she? One of the clones?" Goliath growled.

"She's just a lost girl looking for a place to stay," Xanatos said in the most sympathetic tone Goliath had ever heard him use.

"It's a p-pleasure to meet you, G-Goliath," Nadja held out her hand. "Mister Xanatos said it was okay if I lived here until I…" She groped for a lie. "Until I get some things figured out."

Goliath seemed pensive, then took a deep breath and sighed. "If you wish to join our clan it will have to be discussed with the entire clan."

"Oh! I'm not looking to join your clan!" Nadja said quickly. "I don't really know how long I'll be here and I don't want to get too attached, if you catch my drift?"

Something crossed Goliath's face, but quickly disappeared. "Just the same, if you are going to live here, you may as well know all of us." He leapt upon the parapet and readied to fly down to the others. "Coming?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Oh, um. I think I'll take the stairs," Nadja said then looked at Xanatos. "There _are_ stairs aren't there?"

"Of course. Owen will show you down," Xanatos said and Owen stepped forward. As Nadja meekly followed Owen, staying only a foot or so from his back, she heard Xanatos speak low to Goliath. "Poor thing. I'm not sure of her whole story, but it can't have been an easy life. She can't even fly."

"Glide," Goliath sighed as he corrected. "She is…an odd creature. Hopefully she will prove less timid when she has grown comfortable here. In any case…"

Nadja walked into Owen's back.

"Ow! Sorry, I didn't realize you'd stopped!" She was rubbing her nose and blushing awkwardly. "Why did you stop?"

"You said you had the _Grimorum Arcanorum_," Owen said. "Yet you aren't carrying it. Where is it?"

"Oh, I forgot. After I woke up…like this…it was gone. All of my things were left where they'd dropped, but the book was gone," Nadja shrugged. Something flashed in his eyes before he turned and continued down the stairs.

Silence pressed in around them, except for the dull "click" of Owen's shoes on the stone steps in the tower. Nadja cleared her throat.

"So, uh," she said gracelessly, "Thanks for saving me. I probably would have gotten hurt pretty bad if you hadn't."

Owen said nothing. Nadja's shoulders sank, and her wings drooped.

For the remainder of the walk, the silence was punctuated only by Owen's steps echoing around them, and an odd sigh from Nadja. He opened a heavy wooden door at the bottom and motioned for Nadja to pass through first. "After you." Nadja did not meet his eyes, but stepped through with a downcast gaze and hunched shoulders. Her wing brushed his stone hand and she quickly tucked it in as if by instinct, uncertain how she'd controlled the movement.

"I want you all to be on your best behavior," she heard Goliath lecturing. "There's someone who's going to be living in the castle with us for a while and I don't need you bickering amongst yourselves."

Nadja froze when she saw the clan. Goliath nodded to her and spoke, "Everyone: this is Nadja."

Everyone snapped their heads around and gawked at her. She was then besieged by proffered hands and introductions she couldn't keep straight.

"Calm down everyone! You're scaring her!" a firm female voice said. A female whose skin was the same dark lavender as Goliath's stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "Welcome to Castle Wyvern. I'm called Angela."

"N-Nice to meet you, Angela," Nadja said breathlessly.

"I'm Lexington," a small green gargoyle said and held out his hand. Nadja was surprised to see his wings attached directly to his arms, like a harpy. She hadn't known gargoyles varied so much.

"Broadway," a large blue male with small spikes on his head smiled wide, his face jovial.

"I'm Hudson, lass," a large tan male with a wicked scar across one eye shook her hand firmly. "It's nice ta meet ya."

"I'm—Brooklyn." A gargoyle similarly colored to Nadja held out his hand. Horns jutted up from his skull and rather than having a more human face, he had a large, beak-like mouth.

A small girl, no older than eight, came hopping up past Brooklyn and stared curiously at Nadja. Nadja stared back. She had beautiful olive skin, and gorgeous brown eyes. She had a human face, except for two small fangs. Her ears were small, and rounded like a human's, but she had wings. Even her hands and feet appeared human but for sharper-than-normal nails. The girl didn't even have a tail. She looked like a human with wings. She smiled brightly and offered a hand. "I'm Theresa! This is Bronx!" Just as she whistled a large dog came barreling from behind the group and tackled Nadja in the gut. She sat up and realized that even the dog was a gargoyle.

"It's nice to—!" Nadja heard the sound of running and a stifled woman's voice yelling, "_Alexander Fox Xanatos_! You get back here right now, mister!"

"I wanna meet her!" a boy cried as he burst through a door into the courtyard. He had shaggy red hair and brown eyes. A blue tattoo of a fox overlaid his right eye. "Wow! She's really pretty, Mom! Hi! You're really pretty! Are you gonna stay here? What's your name? My dad said you were gonna stay here!"

"Alex!" a harried-looking woman stopped behind him. "You know better than to run off like that. Your father said we'd come and talk to her once she got settled in."

Nadja stared at the woman, who was tall and svelte, with waterfalls of red hair and lush red lips. She was gorgeous, and confident, and walking straight towards Nadja.

"You must be the new girl," the woman said and sized her up. "I'm Fox. This is Alexander. David told us you'd come and Alex couldn't contain himself. He loves the gargoyles, so a new addition is just like Christmas for him."

"Alex! Alex! Guess what?" Theresa shot past Nadja and Fox, tackling Alex.

"What?" Alex sounded excited.

"My mom said it was okay if I have my birthday here! She said I didn't have to go back to her apartment!" the young girl smiled wide. "You'll get to meet my grandma and grandpa! And Uncle Talon is coming! He said Aunt Maggie would even bring the baby!"

"Really? Awesome! Your uncle is the coolest! And Maggie is always so nice! Do you think she'll let me hold Cleo?" Alex said brightly.

"We'll see, Alex," Fox said, turning her back on Nadja. "Right now you two are overdue for your lessons. Owen will get cross if you two don't hurry up!"

"Yes, Mom," Alex groaned.

"Yes, Fox," Theresa lowered her head and the two trudged for about ten feet before they started shoving each other and running.

"I'm sorry about that," Fox said and turned back toward Nadja. "They don't have any other friends, and their close enough in age that they've never known life without each other. But sometimes when you get them together, it would take a miracle to keep them quiet and behaved."

"Oh, no," Nadja said. "It's fine! They're really cute!"

"I just wanted to extend the family's welcome to you," Fox said. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." She put an arm around Nadja's shoulder, "David told me how you got here. I want you to know that you have nothing to be afraid of as long as you're with us."

Nadja seemed to shrink under the woman's arm. "Thank you."

Goliath cleared his throat.

"I trust you will make sure Theresa stays out of trouble if we are not back before her lessons are finished?" Goliath asked. Fox nodded. "Very well. We will go on patrol. Nadja, you're with me. Broadway, you're with Angela. Brooklyn, you're with Lexington. Hudson, take Bronx with you. He needs the exercise."

"I can take Nadja, Goliath," Brooklyn blurted. "I mean, that is, if you wanted to go meet with Elisa."

Nadja stared at Brooklyn, her face flushed. She was gritting her teeth, willing Goliath to say no without really knowing why.

Goliath seemed to clench his jaw. "I think it will be better if she stays with me, Brooklyn. There are some things I must teach her before she is ready to go on patrol. Now, everyone be back well before sunrise. I don't want anymore close calls." He looked sharply at Angela.

Nadja stared in awe as the gargoyles threw themselves off the edge of the castle, spreading their wings and gliding gracefully through the night sky. She did not realize her mouth was hanging open until Goliath cleared his throat.

"It's not as difficult as it looks. We'll practice here, in the courtyard," He motioned to the courtyard around them. "Climb up to the top of that wall and glide down."

"I'd really love to," Nadja's voice was weak, "But I can't. I can't even control my wings very well."

"That's why you're not jumping off of a building first thing," Goliath smiled. "Stretch out your wings.

Nadja clenched her fists and bared her teeth, trying to find the new muscles in her shoulders and back. She took a deep breath and slowly, shakily stretched her wings as wide as she could.

"Not bad. Now fold your left wing," Goliath instructed. Nadja lost her concentration and both wings flapped hard, sending her off balance and onto the ground.

Goliath looked down at her and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This is going to take more work than I thought."

***  
"You've got it," Goliath applauded as Nadja folded and stretched her wings, together and separately. "Now, let's see you put it into action. Over the courtyard, just as we practiced."

Nadja climbed the wall, still refusing to look down as she did so. She clambered over the top and stepped up looking down as Goliath waved to her.

"Don't worry," he called. "I'll catch you if you look like you aren't going to make it. Just breathe and you'll be fine. It's instinctive, I swear!"

Nadja took a breath, spread her arms and wings, and made a beautiful swan dive. She fell about four feet from the parapet before catching the air under her wings and soaring across the courtyard. She tilted one wing and turned, following first a circle then a figure-eight pattern. She glided lower and lower, deciding she'd take one last loop and land back at Goliath's end of the courtyard. She turned once more, gliding low, and something shined in her eyes. She shook off course and started to fall, only to realize that Goliath had said nothing about landing. She covered her face and ploughed into something solid, but warm. Something that cried out when she collided with it.

"Oh my god! Mister Burnett! Oh god! I killed him! I killed him!" Nadja cried and leapt up off of Owen.

"I am quite alive," he said through gritted teeth as the moon glinted off of his glasses. "Though I believe you may have broken at least one rib."

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know how to land! I didn't know you were standing there or I would have—!" Nadja heard laughter from the doorway to the tower.

"That was hysterical!" Xanatos was laughing as Goliath, also laughing, walked over to them. "I've never seen a gargoyle crash like that! Well, not a gargoyle that wasn't under heavy fire, at least."

"Perhaps we should discuss landing before your next flight? Otherwise I fear Owen will have to start wearing a helmet," Goliath said.

"You laugh now," Nadja grumbled. "But if he hadn't broken my fall, I'd be pasted all over that wall!"

"I am pleased I could be of service to you, Miss Nadja," Owen said shakily. "Goliath, I came to inform you that the children's lessons concluded early. Also: Detective Maza is waiting for you in the hall with Theresa."

"Thank you," Goliath said. "I will be back. For now, try to keep your feet on the ground. If you must practice, try to work on that landing?"

"Uh, yeah," Nadja said. "Sure thing."

"Come on, Owen," Xanatos said. "I just came to see Nadja's progress, but since I'm here, I may as well walk you down to get fixed up."

And within moments, Nadja was left alone in the courtyard atop Castle Wyvern.

She climbed the wall several more times, practicing her maneuvering and teaching herself how to get her feet forward for landing. She rolled head over tail a few more times, but soon was landing and gliding confidently as if she'd been born doing it. She climbed atop the wall once more and looked out over the city. She spied a building that was about half as tall as Xanatos's skyscraper, and only about a single city block away.

She looked around at the empty courtyard below her and decided she'd try to impress Goliath and Xanatos when they came back. She even thought about flying right up to Owen and landing in front of him just to prove she wasn't as useless as she was sure he thought she was.

Nadja lifted one clawed foot and stepped off of the parapet into the abyss of sky and city lights beneath her.


	3. Chapter 3

"I can't believe how amazing this city is," Nadja sighed aloud in wonder as she leaned over the edge of the building-some sort of museum-she'd flown to. "There's so much life…I bet it really doesn't ever sleep."  
She heard the same soft _whoosh_ that had foretold Goliath's arrival on the tower a few hours earlier and turned quickly.  
"Hello?" she called, not seeing anyone. "Who's there?"  
"Who are you?" a hard female voice asked slowly.  
"M-my name's Nadja. Who are _you_?"  
The female stepped out of the shadows and paused a fair distance from Nadja. She looked older than Angela, though strikingly similar. She had soft skin the same blue as the summer sky, and her hair was an eye-burning crimson that matched her red lips. She stared at Nadja suspiciously.  
"I've never seen you here before," the woman said flatly.  
"I'm new in town, I guess," Nadja felt her hackles rising. "What's your name?"  
"I'm called Demona," the woman said and stepped forward, holding out her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you-Nadja was it?"  
"Demona," Nadja repeated. "Nice to meet you."  
"Where do you live, Nadja?" Demona asked, an her voice quirked oddly.  
"Um, well, as of sunset I guess I live up there, in that castle," Nadja pointed. "I wasn't sure where else to go, and I'd heard that Xanatos was a gargoyle supporter."  
The woman stiffened. "He would like you to think so, I'm sure. But be careful-he's a slippery liar and you should only trust him so much. The same goes for the clan that lives in the castle. They are deluded with sympathy. Sympathy for humans that would sooner kill them than accept their help. That's why they sneak around at night, helping from the safety of the shadows."  
"You know them, then?" Nadja asked nervously, her heart speeding up.  
"Ha. Know them? I used to be one of them," Demona said. "Luckily I opened my eyes to the true way of humans. They are hateful, cruel, and exclusive, attacking anything they fear-even if they have good reason to fear it." She punctuated her point with a low growl, her eyes glowing an angry red. Nadja shrank in fear.  
"Surely they aren't _all_ bad?" she asked timidly. "What about mothers who read their children bedtime stories? And what about firefighters and cops-?"  
"Police!" Demona snarled. "They least of all should be trusted! They are given power and can use it to their advantage, corrupting the system and protecting only those they deem worthy! How many police do you see protecting us? None. We are only monsters that they would shoot without hesitation."  
Nadja shrank even further.  
"I apologize," Demon said in gently, sighing wearily. "I should not shout at you when it is my past that has given me reason to hate so thoroughly. You are young, and you will learn as you live. You will see what humanity is really like."  
A loud clock chimed somewhere, sounding the hour of five in the morning. Demona stiffened and stood straight.  
"You would do well not to mention to the others that you have met me," she said. "They do not like me. Our philosophies differ too greatly for us to get along, and they would be inclined to attack me or worse, punish you, if they knew we'd spoken. I would, however, like to see you again soon. I will be here again in a week. I'd like if you came to see me."  
Nadja hesitated before nodding. "I think I'd like that."  
Demona smiled an almost fiendish smile. "I will see you in a week."

"Where were you?" Goliath asked angrily as Nadja landed back in the courtyard.  
"I'm sorry," she said nervously. "I was just practicing flying over there, to that building. I wanted to see if I could."  
"And if you had fallen?" he growled. "Who would have helped you?"  
Nadja frowned and stood tall as other members of the clan began to arrive back at the castle.  
"I would have helped myself, that's who!" she shouted. "I'm not completely useless just because I'm new around here! And you are not my boss!"  
"As long as you're in this clan-!" Goliath began, raising an admonishing finger as Theresa cowered behind a slim human woman with dark hair and skin.  
"I am _not_ in your stupid clan!" Nadja shouted, stretching her wings and baring her teeth. "And if _this_ is the welcome I would receive if I _was_ in it, then I sure as hell don't want to be!" And with that she leapt hard to the wall, smashing her claws into the stone and returning to the parapet upon which she'd slept the night before, opposite the clan and facing away.  
She heard grumbling and muffled arguing in the courtyard as several members of the clan started accusing one another-and defending each other-of misrepresenting the clan. She heard her name now and then, but never as an address. Even if someone had called to her, she decided, she wouldn't have gone. Instead, Nadja turned away, tuned it out, sitting with her legs dangling off of the edge of the castle.  
"That's quite a shift in confidence from the way you acted on that spot earlier tonight," Owen said as he stepped onto the wall.  
"I'm not so afraid of falling anymore," Nadja turned to him, smiling tightly, her heart only half in it. She saw, as he shifted, a bandage around his ribs and sighed. "Did I really break one of your ribs?"  
"Just a crack," Owen said, his voice betraying nothing.  
"Some first impression," Nadja shook her head and drew her knees to her chest, her wings half hiding her from his view. "First I just about fall off the building, then I tackle you, then I break your ribs. You must just love the idea of me sticking around."  
"Actually," Owen said, stepping forward as she turned away from him, embarrassed of all the mistakes she'd made in one evening. "I'm rather intrigued with the idea of you being here. You may be a gargoyle now, but you have a human's mind, and given what you did with a mere spell, you obviously have some sort of latent magickal power. I think your presence could be rather enlightening, for the gargoyles, for Mister Xanatos, and for you."  
"What about for you?" Nadja asked and then clamped a hand over her mouth, embarrassed even further that she'd asked such a stupid, stupid question.  
Owen smiled and for a moment she thought he would put his hand on hers (she was again thankful it was dark, and that her skin was now red, because she was already blushing before she had _that_ stupid thought among the rest).  
"I think it will be very interesting to have you here," he said vaguely, looking out at the sky as the sun started to shine at their backs.


	4. Chapter 4

"It would seem she is not integrating as well as we might have hoped, Mister Xanatos," Owen stood stiffly before his employer's desk. "There is a certain amount of…_animosity_…between Nadja and the clan."  
"I see," Xanatos stifled a yawn. "Perhaps she's too human for them after all. Though she seems to be adjusting to the _perks_ of her transformation rather nicely." He looped the playback of Nadja's much-improved flight, thankfully avoiding the portion of the security footage that showed her unfortunate collision with Owen's ribs.  
"Do I detect a note of jealousy, sir?" Owen asked as Xanatos watched her solo dive from the parapets and the journey to a separate rooftop. The footage played silently as Xanatos responded:  
"A little. I try and try and try to find a path to immortality and she stumbles into it accidentally."  
Owen pushed his glasses up on his nose as he watched Nadja's looping flight, particularly her spirals, which were so tight a stunt pilot might have shuddered.  
"Need I remind you how very mortal gargoyles are, sir?" he asked solemnly.  
"They may be able to die," Xanatos said, "But their average lifespan is still more than five times the longest human lifespan."  
Owen said nothing. He had tried once, early in his service to Xanatos, to dissuade him from the desire for immortality. It had been a failed attempt. He had hoped that having a family would act as a deterent, but if it had done anything, it had only reinforced the desire, so that he could protect his wife and son without fear of the consequences-not that fear of death had ever stopped David Xanatos from trying to protect his family.  
Xanatos turned away from the screen, but Owen kept staring.  
"It's almost eight," Xanatos said finally. "Why don't we turn in for a few hours? It's been a long night. We'll pick up business in here around noon."  
Owen turned, but just as he turned, he caught something out of the corner of his eye on the screen. A particular shape leaving the building to which Nadja had flown. A blur of pale blue and stark scarlet. His lips drew tight and he excused himself, frowning in thought as he walked.  
_It would seem our newcomer has a bit of a secret._

Nadja was dreaming.  
She was hunched over in blackness, isolated in the dark. She felt nothing beneath her bare feet. _Feet_? She was human again! She struggled to stand, her bones aching as if under the weight of a thousand heavy stones.  
"Having trouble?" a woman's voice asked. Nadja lost her concentration and fell to her knees. She gritted her teeth hard, half squeezing her eyes shut, and lifted her head.  
The woman standing in front of her was tall and svelte. She had smooth skin the green of the freshest spring flowers, and enchanting eyes that sparkled with wisdom she looked far too young to possess. Her lips quirked, and those wise eyes slanted ever-so-slightly with the smile.  
"Who-are-you?" Nadja choked through her bared teeth.  
"No one," the woman said nonchalantly.  
"What-do-you-!" Nadja fell to her elbows and snarled the final word of her question in frustration, "-_want_?"  
"The question," the woman lifted a hand and pointed at Nadja. "Is what do _you_ want?"  
Nadja's head began to sink and she saw a brief flash of her pale pink hands before her eyes closed, and just before everything went black, she had an even briefer glimpse of the _Grimorum Arcanorum_.

"Good morning," Owen's voice was the first Nadja heard as she stretched her wings and arms, roaring as relief flooded through her tense muscles. She heard stone shattering, and trembled inwardly in awe as the monstrous cacophony of the clans' mingled growls of the clan echoed around her, carried on a cool and obscenely _wet_ breeze.  
Then she saw the lighting.  
"_Sonofabich_!" she shouted, leaping from the parapet, racing past Owen and into the tower, where she proceeded to shake out her hair.  
"Afraid you'll melt?" Owen asked, straight-faced as the dead.  
"Oh _ha_," Nadja spat back. "How anyone could get used to being frozen in one position for that long and then waking up on the _roof_ in the middle of a _storm_ is beyond me!"  
"You'll get used to it after a while, Nadja," Brooklyn commented as he hopped over the wall, apparently electing himself as peacekeeper between Nadja and the clan. "Where have you been sleeping that you never had to sleep in the rain?"  
"Um. In a barn," Nadja said. "I slept in an old barn."  
Brooklyn said nothing.  
"Listen, about what I said last night," Nadja began awkwardly, her eyes trained on her feet. "I didn't mean to be so rude. I had no right to belittle your family like that. I just…I'm not used to having someone treat me like that. Not used to being yelled at for just exploring."  
"That's just Goliath's way of showing he cares," Brooklyn smiled, showing sharp teeth beneath his beak. Nadja barely contained a shudder. "He's over-protective, but it's what keeps us safe."  
Nadja said nothing, but nodded as if she understood. The truth was that she had never been in danger of being in danger. She'd been adopted by a family that had just enough money to feel secure but not enough money to have enemies, and parents that loved her. She'd been well-behaved enough that she'd never even needed curfew because her parents knew she wouldn't get into trouble.  
"Miss Nadja?" Owen asked a bit more loudly than necessary, interrupting her thoughts. Nadja turned on her toes and splattered his glasses with water from her hair. She giggled awkwardly.  
"Guess I kind of blew you off back there, didn't I?" Nadja tried to smile but was overtaken by a sneeze.  
"Bless you," Brooklyn said sympathetically.  
"Brooklyn, if you don't mind," Owen nodded toward him, "I need to speak to Nadja for a few minutes. Why don't you go and reconnoiter with the clan and find out what their plans for the evening are?"  
"Oh, right," Brooklyn sounded putout.  
"And if you could please tell Goliath to send Theresa down for lessons in an hour, it would be most helpful," Owen said, removing his glasses and wiping them on his jacket as his piercing blue eyes shot through Nadja and straight to Brooklyn.  
"Of course," Brooklyn said tensely.  
"Thank you."  
"Nadja, if you'll please follow me?"Owen held out a hand, motioning to the stairs.  
"Um, am I in trouble?" Nadja asked timidly.  
"Not in the least," Owen said. "I merely wish to discuss a matter regarding your flight last night."  
"Oh _god_," Nadja buried her face in her hands. "I broke more than one rib, didn't I?"  
Owen blinked. "Not at all. Now, if you'll please come with me?"  
Nadja hung her head in curiosity and fear as she treaded carefully behind Owen, leaving a trail of water as her thick skirt dragged down the stairs.

"What?" Nadja choked on the warm tea Owen had served her. His office was larger than her bedroom had been growing up, and had a large window that faced out into the city, offering a view which made up for the Spartan interior.  
"What did Demona have to say to you last night?" Owen repeated. Nadja felt her stomach knotting up.  
"She just introduced herself," Nadja said. "But she said I shouldn't tell anyone I talked to her because I'd be in trouble because they hate her."  
"Did she tell you she used to be a part of Goliath's clan?"  
"Yes."  
"Did she tell you he was his second-in-command?"  
"N-no."  
"Or that she was his mate?"  
"Pardon?"  
"Or that Angela is her daughter?"  
"_Excuse me_?" Nadja's head was starting to spin. "She didn't say anything about that!"  
"She wouldn't," Owen said smoothly, lacing his fingers together and leaning on his hands so that his lips were concealed. "Demona's forte is telling people what they want to hear so that she will do exactly what she wants them to do."  
Nadja squirmed.  
"Do you understand what I'm saying," Owen pressed. Nadja swallowed hard.  
"She did seem sort of…_energetic_…about how bad humans were," Nadja hunched her shoulders. "I sure didn't get the vibe that I should tell her I was human myself."  
"Indeed you should not," Owen said and refilled his own glass of tea. "She would not at all be happy to hear of a human usurping the life of a gargoyle. She would perhaps even view you directly as an enemy, and attempt to end your life."  
"_Christ_," Nadja breathed. "Then screw her. I will most certainly _not_ be going back in a week!"  
Owen clanked the teapot down hard on his desk.  
"You what?"  
"She asked me to meet her again in a week," Nadja said. "But if she's that crazy, I'm just going to steer clear."  
Owen took a deep breath.  
"You will go," Owen said flatly, his voice hard. "But tell no one. And tell no one that you and I have discussed the matter."  
"But you just said-!" Nadja stood from her chair (which was wet from her clothes anyhow).  
"This is a valuable opportunity," Owen said. "Too valuable to waste. Demona does not trust the clan-except perhaps Angela, who will likely never again trust Demona. If she trusts you, if she thinks she is manipulating you, then perhaps we may have an advantage."  
"Wait, you mean like a _spy_?" Nadja's eyes grew wide. "What the hell? I'm not even an actual _gargoyle_! This isn't my business!"  
"You'll find that whether you were born a gargoyle or not, whether you want to be involved with this clan _or not_, it became your business when you made the decision to climb to that parapet and request clemency in this castle," Owen stood, towering over her.  
"Dammit," Nadja pouted. "Fine, but if she turns out to be less of a psycho Nazi than you and Goliath, I'm switching sides."  
"I highly suggest you not even say such things in jest," Owen said, remaining on his feet.  
"Guh, _fine_," Nadja said. "God, I swear, some people have no sense of humor."  
The corner of Owen's mouth quirked awkwardly as if he was fighting a smile, and Nadja sat up a little straighter, eyes narrowed.  
"You know, if I'm going to be putting my life on the line like this, I'm gonna need a little more than a parapet in the rain," she said and smirked. Owen's eyebrows raised.  
"Meaning what? You want your name added to the payroll?"  
"I wish," Nadja said and rolled her eyes. "I want a room. A bedroom. I want to sleep in a bed, whether I'm stone or not. And-_and_-I want to take a freaking _bath_."  
Owen stared.  
"Seriously, I haven't bathed in like, three days. It's disgusting. I'm actually disgusted with myself. And hey, maybe while I'm in the shower, my clothes can just mysteriously disappear and reappear dry when I'm done?"  
Owen smiled.  
"Your bargaining skills are impossible to refuse, even if your conditions are merely human needs," he held out a hand to shake hers. "You have my word: I will direct you to the bathroom, and see to it that your clothes are taken care of. I will also prepare one of the empty castle rooms for your use."  
"Wait, really?" Nadja smiled. "That was too easy. I feel like I could get more out of this."  
"I believe the appropriate line on my part would be, 'Don't push your luck,' or something to that effect," Owen said and held the door for Nadja.  
***


	5. Chapter 5

"Wow," Nadja gaped as Owen held the door that led to the bathroom she'd be using as her own. "I mean _wow_. This is _huge_!"  
"It is rather spacious," Owen said, "Compared to most residential bathrooms. However, it is the smallest of the castle bathrooms, and also the only one with a spare room so near it."  
"Look at this!" Nadja ignored Owen and climbed into the tub. "I think I can almost swim in this! And-oh my God-are those jets? Is this one of those Jacuzzi tubs?"  
"The jets have three settings, the highest of which is quite useful for relieving tension in the lower back," Owen said dryly.  
"You have a Jacuzzi tub too?" Nadja asked. "Does that just come standard with working for Mister Xanatos or do you live in a penthouse apartment?"  
"Mister Xanatos spared no expense as to the comfort of the living quarters here," Owen said. "As for my residence, I have a suite of rooms here in the Eyrie building."  
"You live at the office?" Nadja laughed and shook her head as she reclined against the edge of the empty bathtub, her wings stretched almost completely open in the spacious interior. "I guess you can probably sleep in until the last minute that way. And you don't have to worry about the commute." She cast a sidelong glance at Owen, "Not that you strike me as the kind of man who sleeps in. Or sleeps at all, for that matter."  
Owen tilted his head. "Meaning what?"  
"Have you looked in a mirror lately? If you weren't wearing a suit, I might have thought you were a raccoon and tried to kick you off the wall," Nadja laughed. "How about this? I'll take care of my own bath, and you go and get some sleep. You've been more than hospitable, and I can live a few more days without having freshly-cleaned clothes."  
"Our agreement was-!" Owen began but Nadja cut him off.  
"Verbal agreements have the luxury of being amended without a lot of effort," she said. "Go on. I'm a big girl-it's not like I need you to pour the bubbles and wash my back."  
Owen stiffened and inhaled deeply.  
"I will concede to this under one condition," he said, "I will have someone bring you clean clothes. Tomorrow evening we will discuss what you will require for your room."  
"Sounds like a plan," Nadja smiled and climbed out of the tub, pulling a large, fluffy towel from the cupboard and making a shooing motion with her hand. "I don't need your help. Go dream about paper clips or spreadsheets or whatever it is you dream about."  
Owen nodded and turned, closing the door behind him. He was thankful that she was distracted with the lavishness of the bath, because if she had seen the way he was smiling, she might have known he was far more than what he seemed.

"Okay, let me see here," Nadja rinsed her hair and relaxed one last time with her back against the jets in the bathtub. She was thinking about the odd dream she'd had that day, and musing over what she should do. "I guess the first thing is that I obviously want to be human again. And that's going to require magick. I can do magick, but I needed a spell to do it, which means I need the counterspell for the first spell. Therefore, I need to get the _Grimorum Arcanorum_."  
She lifted one clawed foot out of the tub and wriggled her toes with a sigh before lowering it back into the bubbling water.  
"Great. I have a starting point and no idea how to start it. Maybe I should have looked a little harder for it? Maybe I dropped it in the woods and just missed it because it was dark?"  
There was a knock at the door.  
"Nadja? Are you in there?" Angela's voice was tentative.  
"Oh, uh, yeah!" Nadja called. "Hang on!" She stood, flicking her wings and sending water everywhere as she tried to figure out the easiest way to wrap a towel around herself.  
"Owen said you wanted some clean clothes," Angela said. "He was bringing these up when I ran into him, and he asked if I could bring them to you."  
Nadja turned off the jets on the tub and opened the door a little. Angela was smiling brightly as she handed a wad of cloth to Nadja.  
"Thank you so much!" Nadja said. "I'm sorry to seem so high-maintenance, but I just _needed_ to be clean. So, so needed it."  
"It's no problem," Angela said. "I'll wait for you, then we can talk?"  
"Uh, yeah," Nadja smiled. "Just um, give me a few minutes."  
She shook out the bundle of black cloth and found that the halter-top dress was only about knee-length, with slits on both sides that went embarrassingly high. She frowned, consoling herself with the thought that clothing items in her size with open backs were probably in short supply in Xanatos's home. She scooped up the fresh underwear-black lace with a little pink flower on the front-and wondered where in the hell Owen had found such a thing.

"You look much better," Angela said as they walked. "You looked tired and frightened before. Now you look relaxed, and happy."  
"I feel a lot better," Nadja admitted, tugging at the dress, hoping it did not reveal more than it concealed. "A little exposed, but better."  
They were quiet as they walked, and Nadja could hear someone's voice in the distance. She glanced around and Angela said:  
"It's the library. Goliath is teaching Broadway how to read."  
"Oh," Nadja said. "Broadway…he's you're, um…?" She wasn't sure how to ask.  
"My mate," Angela smiled lovingly. "And Goliath is my father, and Theresa is my sister."  
"Wow," Nadja said. "Pretty tight family, I guess?"  
"Usually we are," Angela said with a sigh. "Though there are some things that come between us now and then."  
"Like what?"  
"Oh, it's nothing," Angela said and waved a dismissive hand. "I don't want to burden you with the drama of our family."  
"It's no burden. If-if I'm going to be living here, I should be involved, and who knows? Maybe a fresh opinion will help clarify things?"  
Angela sighed and nodded.  
"There are other gargoyles in the city," Angela said. "Theresa's mother, Elisa, is human. My mother-Demona-is one of the other gargoyles."  
Nadja shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Demona. Angela did not notice.  
"Despite their differences, Goliath and Elisa are mates, and they truly do love one another," Angela said. "I feel happy for my sister, having both her parents there to love her. But, well, I'm jealous. I've been considering asking my father to extend an invitation to allow Demona to rejoin the clan."  
Nadja took a deep breath and tried to keep her face passive.  
"Why is that a problem?" she asked quietly.  
"My mother hates humanity. She blames them for what happened to our clan in Scotland," Angela shook her head. "She blames them for something that was as much her fault as the fault of a few evil men.  
"She's tried to kill Elisa so many times I've even lost count, though she wouldn't dare lay a hand on Theresa, she isn't welcoming of hybrids. She tried to kill Delilah-oh, um, Delilah is one of the clones that a scientist made of the clan, except that Demona didn't choose for her to be created. Thailog, my father's clone, created her from DNA he took from Demona and Elisa, so she would be a pretty mate and completely subservient."  
"Uh, wow," Nadja's head was spinning. "Clones? DNA crossing? I feel like I've fallen into a science fiction novel."  
"It seems like it some days," Angela said. "Anyway, Demona tried to attack Elisa and Theresa once, when Theresa was still small, but I begged her to leave my sister alone. I told her she owed me that much. I don't know why she listened, but she's kept her scheming quiet, and I've even seen her sneak away if one of us has Theresa in-tow. I know she must hate her, but perhaps she has enough of a soul left to keep her hate in check for my sake."  
Nadja said nothing. What was there to say? This was about as dysfunctional as a family could get.  
"Do you think she could change?" Nadja asked eventually. "Maybe learn to accept the past as the past and get on with her life?"  
Angela shook her head. "I wish she could, but I know she never will. Her hate is all that sustains her. And I know she's lived alone too long to ever belong to a clan again."  
Nadja was silent.  
"I'm sorry to just dump all this on you," Angela said. "Thank you for listening though. It's nice to have someone around who will at least let me talk about it."  
"Oh, uh, no problem."  
They were quiet for a few minutes, not uncomfortably quiet, just thoughtfully quiet.  
Finally, Angela smiled. "I think we're going to be friends."  
Nadja couldn't help returning the smile. "I'd like that."

"So, you're Nadja," the slim human woman Theresa had cowered behind the night before sized her up as she and Angela returned to the courtyard of the castle to find that it had stopped raining.  
"Um, hello," Nadja waved shyly. "You must be Elisa?"  
"Detective Maza," Alex called as he came running from the opposite end of the courtyard. "Theresa's cheating! I can't climb up the wall to get the flag!"  
Nadja saw Theresa clinging to the stone wall with one clawed hand and holding onto a red scarf. She stuck her tongue out and cried, "Tattle tale! You want the flag? Here!" Theresa threw herself into the air and glided over Alex's head, dropping the scarf just out of his reach.  
"You're cheating!" Alex argued.  
"Theresa, play nice," Elisa called. Theresa smiled and dived at Alex, rolling him across the courtyard stones in a pile of laughter. "Sorry about that."  
"Oh, no," Nadja shook her head as Angela raced across the courtyard, pretending to tackle the children as Bronx leapt and begged to join in.  
"Brooklyn said you apologized for what you said last night," Elisa said flatly.  
"Wow, you don't beat around the bush, do you?" Nadja said in awe. "I did. To him at least. I think I'll apologize to everyone when the get back. I was out of line."  
"At least you can recognize it," Elisa said. "I did talk to Goliath about toning it down. He felt bad for shouting at you, but that's just-!"  
"His way of showing he cares," Nadja finished. "Brooklyn told me the same thing. And Angela mentioned it while we were talking."  
Elisa smiled.  
"I think you're gonna fit in here, Nadja," she said. "I really do."  
***


	6. Chapter 6

"Just stay close to the building," Goliath lectured. Nadja frowned, feeling one of her fangs press down upon her lower lip. "Do not disobey me."  
"I'm not a baby," she muttered. "It's not like I'd never find it again. I got here once alone already, didn't I?"  
"True as that may be," Xanatos's voice interrupted any argument that may have started. "Goliath is right. It's safest if you stick close. It's a big city out there, and the Quarrymen have been promising a fight. If they caught one of you alone…it could be disastrous."  
Nadja shuddered. The Quarrymen had frightened her when she'd been human, and now that she was-to be frank-their quarry, they were an ever-present threat she could not escape.  
"When will she be allowed to come with us?" Angela asked gently. "Surely it would be safest to show her around, teach her what areas are most likely to yield danger?"  
"For now it is best to leave the castle…_protected_." Goliath didn't sound like he honestly considered Nadja any form of protection for anything at all. She clenched her teeth and looked away.  
"Sorry," she said sharply, turning away. "I didn't mean to be an inconvenience."  
She stalked away, wiping hot tears from her eyes. She'd been such a failure at normal life that she'd been stripped of her humanity, and now she was failing as a gargoyle. She shook her head, sighing and taking shelter in the nearest tower.  
"Be back _well_ before sunrise," Goliath raised his voice, addressing the clan and quashing any words that might have been said in Nadja's defense. Ever since her first night she'd been confined to the castle, and not that she didn't find it extremely cool to be in a castle, but with the addition of wings had come the _need_ to fly. Being grounded had never sucked so much in her life.  
"That was quite well-played," Owen's voice said from the stairs. "You might pursue a career as an actress if you ever manage to get your humanity back."  
"Go die," Nadja said angrily, though she immediately regretted it. The last thing she needed was the "if" and, and the dryness of Owen's voice made it seem as if no one but she gave a damn whether she ever got her life back. Still, he'd only been trying to pay her a compliment.  
"I apologize," Owen said in a not-very-apologetic voice. He knelt. "You weren't acting?"  
"I want out of here," Nadja said, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I'm not a child. I got here all on my own and didn't need anyone's rules to do it."  
Owen smiled superciliously. "Then you're in luck. The week is up. I will wager your _friend_ will be waiting for you soon."  
Nadja gave a small start and swallowed. "Friend? I don't have any of those." Nadja shook her head. "Well, maybe you. But I'm still not sure what you're story is."  
Owen smiled, and allowed himself a small laugh. "It would take quite a bit of telling, but I was referring to Demona."  
"Demona." Nadja sat up, suddenly doubting the meeting. "I-I don't know…Goliath-!"  
"Did you not just declare yourself independent of his rules?" Owen smiled. Nadja furrowed her brow and pursed her lips.  
"You're right. Damn him, and damn the rules! If I'm not back by sunrise, tell that bully I'm old enough to come and go as I please."  
"I'll be certain to do that," Owen said. "Do try to stay out of trouble."  
"Trouble is my middle name!" Nadja said and prodded her sternum with her thumb. "Okay, that might have been over-the-top."  
"A bit."  
"We'll just pretend it never happened," Nadja said with a bright smile, her newfound confidence heartening. "See you later!"  
"Ta," Owen said, his face straight, though a corner of his mouth quirked as if he were fighting a genuine smile.  
Nadja leapt to the nearest edge of the wall and threw herself into the air, spreading her wings and reveling in the feeling of the wind in her face. She looped a few times before landing on the rooftop where she'd met Demona, and after a quick look around, found that she was early.  
So she waited.  
And waited.  
And waited.  
Almost four hours of waiting later, Nadja began to wonder if she'd been stood up. Then she began to wonder if something was wrong. She took off, scanning the city, ducking out of sight when she saw Broadway and Angela below her, and calling for Demona as she flew. She was passing over the remnants of some kind of office building-huge and dilapidated with enough glass in its roof to put windows in every house in her hometown, when she heard the most frightening sound she'd ever heard in her life, an animalistic roar filled with such hate, such raw anger, that even the mightiest of jungle cats would have been cowed by it.  
She dipped low, landing lightly on the roof and peeking through the dusty glass.  
"Come now, Demona," a familiar voice said. "Such rudeness is unbecoming."  
"I will tear you apart and feast on the tatters of your flesh," Demona's voice was merciless. "Release me! Now!"  
"I think not," the voice said again, and Nadja saw a figure emerge from the shadows. She covered her mouth to muffle her gasp, but she nearly cried out when she saw what looked like Goilath.  
"Thailog!" Demona's growl shook Nadja to her core. "Release me or so help me I will-!"  
"You'll what?" he laughed. "Yell at me some more? Those chains were made strong enough to hold _Goliath_-you know they'll hold you."  
Demona answered with another screaming roar, Nadja shrank back in fear of the bloody red glow in the other gargoyle's eyes.  
"Go ahead," Thailog laughed. "Get it out of your system. Once you're under my control you'll have some manners."  
Demona told Thailog what she could do with his manners, and the words snapped Nadja to her senses. She untied the hipscarf she'd been wearing-wary of the sound the coins could make-and shimmied out of her equally bedecked skirt. Standing extremely embarrassed in her tunic shirt and corset, she shifted to the opposite side of the roof, where a pane was broken out large enough for her to slip through. She waited until Thailog disappeared into the shadows and dropped down to the darkness, listening to make sure her arrival hadn't been heard.  
"I'll be back in an hour, love," Thailog said with a harsh laugh.  
_Wow_, Nadja thought, _That's convenient._  
She counted to fifty, and crept to Demona's side.  
"You!" Demona hissed. "What are you doing here?"  
"Saving you," Nadja rolled her eyes.  
"These chains are too strong for me to break," Demona rattled her chains, growling for emphasis. "What can _you_ do?"  
"Who said we were going to break them?" Nadja lifted the lock. "Perfect." The padlock was thick, and strong, but the lock mechanism gave way under the cruel tip of a bobby pin the same way the one on her parents' shed had.  
Demona dropped the chains and massaged her wrists where the beginnings of angry red welts were forming.  
"We must hurry," Demona said. "He could be back at any minute."  
"He said he'd be back in an hour," Nadja pointed out.  
"_I lied_." The door flew open and Thailog tackled Nadja hard, sending the breath from her lungs. Demona stood, read to fight, but Nadja shook her head weakly.  
"_Go_," she breathed. Demona did not think twice, but abandoned her and flew off into the night.  
"That was not very wise of you," Thailog said with a laugh. "She will not come back."  
"So what?" Nadja breathed. "Better me than her."  
"Ah, a little heroine," he cooed, standing and hefting Nadja up by her throat. He raked his eyes across her body and she wished she'd kept her skirt. "Well, you're no Demona, but perhaps you'll do. Tell me, will the clan miss you? You do belong to them, do you not? Will they hasten to your rescue when you don't return?"  
"I doubt it," Nadja coughed, eyes downcast. "I don't belong with them. I don't belong anywhere. That's why better me than Demona. I have no one. No one will miss me."  
Thailog smiled wide, his face crueler and darker than Goliath's ever could have been.  
"Excellent. You'll forgive me if I don't quite trust you?" he locked Demona's restraints around Nadja's wrists. She did not look at him, just let her chin rest on her chest and sighed.  
"Whatever," her voice was harsh, and dejected.

"Angela!" Demona cried, diving low and digging her claws into the stone of the castle she'd once called home.  
"You!" Angela's voice was as hate-filled as ever, and it stung Demona hard.  
"I am not here to fight," Demona raised her hands, the red of her welts standing stark against the blue of her skin. "Where is Goliath?"  
"With Elisa and my sister," Angela growled. "What do you want, Demona?"  
"Your friend-the new gargoyle-needs help. Thailog has her."  
"Why should we trust you?" Broadway asked defensively, clenching his fists.  
"She saved my life," Demona said. "I owe her."  
"So why don't you save her?" Broadway asked. "She doesn't even want to be part of the clan."  
"I am not strong enough to stand against Thailog alone, and if you do not hurry he will have control of her-!"  
"_Demona_!" Goliath's voice was gruff, angry as he and Theresa landed back at the castle from their visit to Elisa.  
"She says Nadja needs help," Broadway said.  
"What? I told her to stay at the castle!"  
"Did you honestly think she would listen?" Angela asked angrily. "She needs our help, whether or not the message comes from a reliable source we should heed it."  
"Finally, someone talking sense," Demona said and hissed as Goliath grabbed one of her wrists.  
"Where is she?" he growled.  
"Follow me," Demona hissed as she wrenched her wrist-now bloody-from his grip.

"This won't hurt, my dear," Thailog assured Nadja. "It will be like going to sleep. Except you'll never wake up."  
"Isn't that what they say about death?" Nadja asked contritely.  
"This is much more merciful than death, don't you think? After all, the only thing you're losing is your free will," he laughed. "Come now, do hold still. I'd hate to miss and have to do the whole spell over again."  
Less than ten seconds later Nadja was hit with a blast of heat that swelled through her stomach, permeated her chest, and exploded through her head. She saw the world go dark, and heard it go silent. When she opened her eyes, all was gray except for Thailog.  
"How are you feeling, my pet?" he asked. Nadja lifted her head.  
"I feel fine, Master Thailog," Nadja's voice was hollow, toneless. "May I call you 'Master'?"  
Thailog's laugh was deep, a rumble of thunder portending a storm.  
"I think that's quite all right, my pet," he said, unchaining Nadja. "Why don't we get you out of those rags. I've got something new for you to wear. It may not fit you as well as it would have fit Demona, but I'm certain you'll adjust."  
"As you wish, Master Thailog."

"She's there," Demona pointed to the rooftop she'd flown from. "But you must be careful. There's no telling whose side she's on."  
"Angela, save Nadja, if she is under Thailog's control, restrain her. Demona, you're with me. We'll take Thailog," Goliath ordered. "Broadway will bring the others when they return to the castle, but for now the three of us must do."  
"Remember, Angela," Demona said, touching her daughter's arm gently only to wince as the girl moved away. "She may fight back, but it is not her will. Try not to hurt her."  
"I'll only hurt her if she hurts me first," Angela growled, her eyes burning crimson. Demona smiled warmly.  
"Perhaps you're not so unlike me after all," she said wistfully as Angela joined her father and readied their assault. They crashed through the glass, roaring for all they were worth, and Demona followed suit. Much to their surprise, Thailog was sitting relaxed in a chair with a glass of wine.  
"Isn't this a surprise?" he laughed. "And here she didn't think anyone cared enough to come after her. You always did have a soft-spot for the weak and helpless though, didn't you Father? And you, sister?" Goliath and Angela were tense. "It's you that surprises me Demona, why did you fetch them? She was nothing to you."  
"She's a gargoyle," Demona growled. "A _true_ gargoyle. Not a cheap imitation like_ you_."  
"Oh, your words do sting," Thailog said with a chuckle. "Nadja, my pet: won't you come and greet our guests?"  
The young gargoyle stepped out of the shadows clad in a rather close-fitting suit of black leather and fishnet. Two belts looped about her hips, each hung with knives, and she wore something like light armor across her chest and left arm, as if she expected battle. Her eyes were blank, and her lips pressed closed, though they gleamed with the dark red lip stain she wore in conjunction with black eye shadow. She seemed completely changed.  
"How may I serve you, Master Thailog?" Nadja asked, her voice flat.  
"I think it's time you took out the trash," Thailog said. "Angela looks ready for a fight. Why don't you show her how to dance? I'll entertain our other guests."  
"As you wish, Master Thailog." Nadja took a fighting stance and motioned to Angela to advance. Angela tentatively stepped forward.  
"You don't have to do this, Nadja," Angela said slowly. "It's a spell-it's not you."  
"You are quite mistaken, Angela," Nadja said. "I am very much myself. And I now serve a new master."  
"You served _no_ master before!" Angela dodged a clawed swipe. "Owen told us what you said before you left-damn the rules, right?"  
Nadja did not respond, but seemed to flinch as Angela spoke. She stumbled in her step and Angela tired to grab her arms. Nadja shook her head, her eyes going empty once more, and pinned Angela against the ground, slashing hard at her arms and wings.  
A mere ten minutes later, all three gargoyles lie motionless, unconscious.  
"That was quite good, my pet," Thailog said and wrapped his arms around Nadja. "I think together you and I will be able to destroy the entire clan, and those traitorous clones. All of them. Especially that _bitch_, Delilah. And the other half-breed, Theresa. And then of course, the humans. Oh I can't wait to feel those little human bones crunching in my hands. Perhaps I'll start with Elisa? She always did give me trouble. Or Xanatos? No, I should let him live a bit longer-I do owe him so very much." Thailog sat in his chair, Nadja in his lap, and stroked her hair as she stared blankly at the motionless bodies of their enemies, gray in her vision, as was everything but Thailog.  
"Whatever pleases you, Master Thailog."  
"Perhaps I'll start at the bottom and work my way up?" Thailog mused. "Yes, I think I'll start with that meddling prick, Burnett. He's the real driving force behind what Xanatos has become. Without his sidekick, Daddy David won't know what to do. Then I can kill his whole family and make him watch. Yes, that settles it. Owen Burnett will die first among the humans, after we destroy the clan. That way no one can come to Xanatos's aid."  
Nadja's eyes grew emptier, her breath shallow, and her lips parted.  
_Owen_. The word meant something, somewhere. _Owen Burnett. Burnett._ Why did these words matter? They were not Thailog. She closed her eyes. A derisive smile greeted her, with stark blue eyes and fair hair. Memories…she knew that smile. That face. _Owen_. Of course, it was Owen Burnett. How could she have forgotten? She spoke with him often in this new life of hers. He worked for Xanatos. They were becoming friends of a sort. She trusted Owen. He'd saved her life the night she'd arrived. She'd broken his ribs. He let her take a bath. He promised her a room. He talked to her, he'd even almost laughed with her. Owen Burnett was a friend, not an enemy.  
_Owen. Owen. Owen._  
Thailog's voice echoed in her mind: _Owen Burnett will die.  
No_!  
Nadja screamed inside, but her body was still. She exhaled slowly, betraying nothing.  
When her eyes opened they were clear, and fiery, luminous-one blue and one green-and stared at the beaten bodies of Goliath, Demona, and Angela, their colors burning into her eyes as the will returned to Nadja's heart. She noticed they each drew breath, and was inwardly thankful that they had survived the brutal attack that had been made against them.  
"What do you think my pet? Shall we finish them off and…_retire_?" Thailog purred in her ear.  
Bile rose up in Nadja's throat at the suggestion.  
"Would it not be more fun, Master Thailog, if we abandoned them at the castle and left them to warn the others? Let them raise their petty defenses-they cannot stand against your might," Nadja kissed his cheek warmly.  
"I do love a woman who understands drama," Thailog wrapped one arm around her waist, stroking her thigh with the other. "Chain them up. I'll carry Goliath, you carry Demona and Angela. Perhaps if the day's sleep heals them enough to wake up, they'll be able to watch us destroy their precious family."  
"As you wish, Master Thailog," Nadja said evenly.


	7. Chapter 7

Nadja gritted her teeth and swallowed back apologetic tears as she let Demona and Angela slip from her grasp. She'd flown low so they wouldn't suffer further injury when she released them, but Thailog had dropped Goliath from much higher, and she'd heard something snap when he hit the castle courtyard. Nadja shuddered when Thailog dived to her, laughing maniacally as they turned away from the Eyrie Building.

"Come, my pet," he said. "The clan will return soon, and we should return before the dawn."

"Of course, Master Thailog," Nadja said, her voice low and sultry. She let him slip ahead of her and curled her lip in disgust. _Just a few more hours_, she told herself, _After sunset we'll return and everyone will be ready to fight. Surely he can't fight everyone._

"Where are we going, Master?" she asked when she realized they'd flown past the building she'd found him in.

"Ah, to my home. You will meet the other member of our little clan: Brentwood. By far the most intelligent of all the clones. Except for me, of course," Thailog chuckled to himself.

"No one is smarter than you, Master Thailog," Nadja purred as she swallowed back bile. She hadn't realized there was _another _gargoyle to worry about. Her fear for the clan doubled and made her stomach heavy.

Demona awoke writhing in pain as the sunlight stripped her wings from her body. She screamed, curling in upon herself as the transformation from gargoyle to human shifted bones and skin, healing minor hurts and worsening others.

Sweating and shaking, she sat up. She had been placed in a plus bed in a familiar stone-walled room. She had been stripped and bandaged, and her left wrist was wrapped in a weak cast of sorts.

"Welcome back," Xanatos' voice was unreadable.

"Angela?" she asked huskily, remembering what had happened. "Where is my daughter?"

"Angela and Goliath are safe," Xanatos said. "Both are sleeping in the courtyard. Angela should be healed by tonight. Goliath has a broken wing that will take a bit longer."

Demona said nothing.

"What happened?" Xanatos pressed. "Where is Nadja?"

"Thailog." Demona closed her eyes. "Thailog has control of her through some spell. It was intended for me but she saved me."

"Yes, Owen said you'd come to inform the others of her predicament, though he wasn't able to give me many specifics," Xanatos's eyes narrowed. "Why do you suppose Thailog didn't just kill you?"

"I'm sure I don't know," Demona shifted, trying to get up and groaning as her head throbbed. "They'll come back tonight. If Goliath is still injured and Angela and I are weak, they'll try to destroy the entire clan."

"Owen suggested that might happen and is currently working to make certain it doesn't become a problem."

Demona laughed ruefully then grew stone-faced. "The clan will blame me for what happened. I am afraid I will have to leave before sunset. You understand of course?"

Xanatos smiled. "I shouldn't let you. I shouldn't have even let Owen tend to your wounds. I should have killed you."

"And yet you didn't," Demona's voice was not the scoff it should have been. Rather, she spoke thoughtfully, almost in wonder, "Twice I should have died and have not. Perhaps luck is finally on my side."

"I'll have to ask you to get dressed and allow Owen to walk you out," Xanatos said. "No offense, but you know I can't trust you here on your own."

"Nor should you," Demona's voice took on its usual latent malice once more.

"You'll return tonight, of course?" Owen's question was more of a statement directed at Demona. She was wearing the same black dress Nadja had worn in while her own clothes had been washed. She tossed her hair and jutted her hip out.

"I have no love for this clan," she said flatly. "But if Thailog thinks I'll let my daughter be hurt without getting payback, he's wrong. Dead wrong."

Owen smiled.

"Then we will see you this evening. I would suggest returning before sunset. We wouldn't want you to be late for the…party."

Demona smirked, "I'll just run home and get a few party favors."

And with that she walked out of the Eyrie Building, nothing in her step betraying the horrible injuries she'd suffered the night before. Owen watched her disappear into the crowded New York street before returning to the castle armory. He removed his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and began putting the finishing touches on Xanatos' newest project, all the while growing more anxious about how the coming night would end.

"Ah, Detective Maza," Xanatos greeted Elisa warmly. "Thank you for coming in on such short notice."

"This better be good, Xanatos," Elisa growled, "I'm waiting to hear back about a new piece."

"I'm sure whatever pretty gun you ordered for Thailog is nowhere _near_ as pretty as what I can give you," Xanatos' eyes danced wickedly as he motioned for Elisa to follow him. "You remember the steel clan?"

"I remember how useless they were," Elisa spat, fuming over what Thailog had done to Goliath and Angela.

"Well, I revisited their design and made a few changes. Changes very similar to the design used for Cold Fire," Xanatos smiled as he opened the door to where Owen was just finishing the last adjustments to his newest creation. Elisa gasped when she saw what he'd made and looked to Xanatos suspiciously.

"Does that mean you like it?"

"Why?" Elisa asked distrustfully.

"I imagine you're not going to let Thailog go without giving him a bit of what Goliath got," Xanatos laughed. "Don't worry. You aren't the only one wearing one of these suits tonight. I'll be dressed to match."

Elisa stepped forward, running her hands over the cold metal. Silver and purple, with large black wings that glistened like glass.

"Why don't you try it on?" Xanatos asked wryly. "Get used to it. Owen will show you the weapons it has installed. And if that call for your new firearm comes—!"

"I'll tell them I changed my mind," Elisa breathed low as she removed her jacket and tied her hair back.

"I am not giving anyone orders!" Demona growled, slamming her fist into a wall and shuddering as pain wracked her body. She forgot she could not crush stone as a human.

"You are not welcome here, Demona," Talon roared back. "The clones made their decision to atone for the things they did under Thailog's order but _you_ are beyond forgiveness."

"It is because of Thailog I am here at all!" Demona argued. "He almost killed Goliath. He has kidnapped and enslaved a new gargoyle. He attacked my daughter. Any scores I may want to settle with anyone else will wait until I have made certain Thailog is dead."

"Please quiet down!" Maggie's voice was hushed as she stepped into the main "hall" of the Labyrinth. "Cleo is asleep! You'll wake her!"

"Sorry, Maggie," Talon softened. "You have my answer Demona. I'll pass your message on to the clones, but I will not force them to fight."

"I am not playing around tonight, Talon. Thailog dies this time." Demona's voice sounded no less animalistic as a human than a gargoyle.

"I'll be there," he said finally. "But only because my sister will be."

"I don't care why, just as long as you're there," Demona turned and walked out. "And tell Delilah if she wants to prove she can lead the clones then she'd better step up and show her half-breed face."

"All the preparations appear to be in order, Mister Xanatos," Owen said as he handed his employer the helmet to his own flight suit—a helmet which no longer bore quite the resemblance to its inspiration.

"Very good, Owen. Is Detective Maza ready?" Xanatos fastned the mask to his suit and stretched, adjusting until he was comfortable in his metallic skin.

"She proved an apt pupil," Owen said. "If you'll excuse me, I believe I should arm myself as well."

"Of course," Xanatos smiled. "See you topside."

Owen disappeared, leaving Xanatos to walk the dark halls of the castle alone. He turned the corner and something dropped on him from above. He struggled momentarily before he saw a knife flash in his viewfinder and stop at his unexposed throat. His assailant stepped forward with a crimson laugh painted across her lips.

"Fox," he smiled and she stepped back. "Stealthy and efficient as ever."

"Hiding on ceilings isn't as easy as it was ten years ago," she smiled and helped her husband to his feet. He removed his mask and kissed her.

"Luckily you won't have to for this fight. Did you put Alex to bed?"

"Yes," Fox said. "And I told him once Theresa gets there to lock the door and not come out."

"Good call," Xanatos took his wife's hand and they walked to the courtyard just as the final fingers of scarlet stretched across the sky. Elisa was already waiting on the roof, kneeling in her own flight suit beside the slumbering form of her beloved Goliath. The clan had not slept on their usual perches—no, they'd huddled close around their fallen leader and would-be princess. Theresa was kneeling between the two, holding their hands. Her face was frozen in mid-scream, as if she had found a well-spring of rage not even Goliath often expressed. It irked Xanatos to see such a look on the face of a child he'd watched grow up alongside his own.

"Are you ready for a fight?" Xanatos asked gravely, holding Fox's hand a bit tighter. He truly hated putting his wife in danger, but things had to end tonight. That much he and Demona had agreed on.

"I'm ready," Elisa's voice was cold.

"As am I," Demona's voice was a sadistic purr from the shadows of a castle tower. She stepped forward, still wearing the black dress, carrying two very large guns, though the one in her left hand seemed to give her a bit of trouble. Xanatos saw she'd removed the splint Owen had put on it. The sun sank beneath the horizon and Demona dropped her guns, doubling over and howling in pain as the change from human to gargoyle shook her, twisting bone and sinew alike. She shook off the last remnants of humanity and breathed deep, flexing her now healed wrist and picking up her guns.

Elisa looked away, uninterested in Demona. She focused everything on Goliath as the stone around his body chipped and cracked. He did not burst to life as was normal, rather stretched and groaned in pain. His wing was still broken, she could see, but his cuts and bruises seemed to have healed. Angela groaned as she awoke but even the deepest of slashes that had marred her were but faint scars.

Theresa was another matter. She exploded from her stone skin and shrieked so violently that had he not been watching Demona, Xanatos might have mistaken the sound for the older gargoyle's war cry. The rest of the clan shuddered as they awoke the blood-curdling sound.

Elisa held Theresa close and Goliath put an arm around the child as well. They shushed her tears and quieted her sobs before kissing her head and sending her down to Alex's room with Bronx for safety. Xanatos thought he saw Angela scowl from beneath Broadway's arm, but it passed so quickly he wasn't sure if he'd truly seen it.

"Are we late?" Talon's voice rang out as he and Delilah descended to the courtyard.

"Not at all," Xanatos smiled. Demona stiffened when she saw Delilah.

"You actually showed up," she spat. "Alone I see."

"I gave the others a choice," Delilah said evenly. "They do not want to fight anymore. But I understand my purpose here, despite my preference for pacisfism."

"Delilah no fight alone," a voice came from above them. Malibu landed lightly beside her, taking her hand in the same Xanatos still held Fox's. Brooklyn looked away in jealous disgust. Talon went to stand by Elisa and Goliath, helping the larger gargoyle to his feet.

"What are you wearing?" Goliath and Talon asked of Elisa. She smiled and pulled on her own mask.

"It's a long story," she said stonily. "Is this everyone?"

Xanatos looked around at those who'd come to make sure Thailog met his end tonight. Goliath, weakened, but too stubborn to stay out of the fight. Angela, healed at least physically. Demona, out for blood as usual. Hudson, brandishing his knife despite his lack of present enemy. Lexington, hunched over glaring at Demona. Brooklyn standing apart from the others, staring at the horizon. Talon, hackles raised. Delilah, eyes unreadable. Malibu, focused entirely on Delilah. Elisa, armed and ready. He and Fox. Which just left—!

"Is everyone here, Mister Xanatos?" Owen asked as he stepped into the courtyard. He had not replaced his jacket, and had left his sleeves rolled to the elbow. His stone fist seemed somehow darker than usual, and the gun in his other hand seemed to transform him into something much more dangerous than he'd seemed before.

"I believe so," he responded. "Everyone—take your places. The show is about to begin."


End file.
